Weaning and wailing...

There was a time when I never thought my son would ever take a sippee. He wanted me and only me. Luckiy, those days are history! He only gets breastfed before bed at night and during his nighttime feedings. Yes, he is still waking up at least twice a night wanting 'nummies'. Soon this will be coming to an end too. My feelings are mixed. I love the special moments we have during feedings, thats about the only time he is not squirming around wanting to get into stuff. But my body is breaking down. The drain of nutrients and calcium has taken a toll. Breastfeeding was not easy for me but my son gave me no choice as he refused a bottle from birth. I had just about every problem you could think of- except for lack of milk.
This Friday we are going to stop the before bed 'nummies' and replace one feeding a week with a sippee. I REALLY hope this works. The goal is to have him weaned by the time we go on vacation.
I will miss breastfeeding, the closeness and comfort it provides to my son and I and oh yeah- not having to watch what I eat, when I eat and how much I eat. No more piggee and on to the sippee!

A productive weekend...

Lets see... cleaned out Gryffin's room and closets, showed Granny's house to a potential buyer- twice, laundry caught up (thanks Honey!) and was able to enjoy some time with my husband and son. Whew! Of course, the rest of the house suffered from my attention being diverted elsewhere. Like death and taxes- cleaning is unavoidable.
Speaking of taxes- I haven't mailed out our states yet! Crap, I better do that. Its our vacation money. Ah, vacation. I'm already looking forward to it. I miss my family and the desert... Arizona here I come (in a couple months anyway).

Thought for the day...

Diet coke cleans the corrosion from your car battery and makes your toilet sparkle. Just imagine what its doing to your digestive tract!

Notches in the bedposts...

My Dad doesn't speak of his childhood too much. So when he does I listen. The one thing that has been a constant theme is something his father told him, 'Take care of what you have or you won't ever have any better'. This has stuck with me. Which is why I sometimes have a hard time having two big dogs and a very strong little baby boy. A few years ago my husband bought me a dining room table and chairs for Christmas. It was new and beautiful and perfect, right up until the moment our youngest dog decided the chairs were chew toys. Yes, I cried. Silly, I know. Then I decided that from then on anything that came into our home was to be pre-distressed so I wouldn't have to cry over something that couldn't cry over me. This rule had to be broken when it came to picking out a crib for our son. We chose a beautiful cherry one that converts from a crib to a toddler bed and then to a full size bed. It was new and beautiful and perfect, right up until the moment our son decided it was a chew toy. Yes, again I cried. Then I decided that he will be the one that will have to explain to his significant other why there are soooo many notches on his bedposts! And that I find comfort and a few laughs in.

Why can't everyone find their rabbit and monkey?

Today Mike told me about a friend of ours that is separating from his wife after only a few short years of marriage. We had both suspected problems for awhile but hoped that we were wrong. Divorce is something that happens too often and too easily now a days. My parents divorced when I was young; however, that was a good divorce. Not that it was easy and amicable but that it was better for them to separate than to stay together for all parties involved. Staying together for the kids sake isn't always a good thing. It was also good in the fact that my Dad found his soul mate and I got my soul Mom. My step-mom is more my Mom than the woman who bore me. Divorce is something that was very real to Mike and I, his parents are also divorced. Before we decided to get married we decided to get our ducks in a row. Most marital problems are monetary. Luckily, I'm pretty good at pinching pennies. We spent YEARS pinching and squeezing and down right strangling those pennies. Now the only time we fight about money is when Mike tells me to spend it on myself and I refuse. We also waited until we were older and had both done some living. Mike as a roadie for a band and me living on my own and learning to stand on my own two feet.
We wish everyone could find their rabbit, Mike's nickname for me and their monkey, my nickname for him.

Is it still Wednesday?

I only ask because I'm still overwhelmed by all there is to do. But hey, yesterday I did get the bathtub scrubbed. I'm just going to have to get back to an old habit... set the timer for 15 minutes and see how much I can do. If I can force myself to do this just twice a day I will be able to dig us out in about a year (or two). Hey, maybe I can tie rags to Gryffin's hands and knees and let him crawl around and clean the floors! Yeah you're right, that is probably not a good idea. Looking at the bright side, even when my house is at its worst it is still hospital clean compared to the home I grew up in. My muther's idea of cleaning was to rearrange the dirt. Her theory- if you have one cat and three litter boxes you only have to change them once a month. I remember one day, after I had moved out, I went there to meet her and she wasn't home yet so I opened the fridge looking for something to munch. An avalanche of plastic butter tubs came crashing out. After opening the first few only to discover green fuzzy things trying to escape I just began throwing them all out. In my mind I thought my muther would appreciate this gesture of kindness by releasing these creatures into the wild and cleaning out her fridge in the process. WRONG! She yelled at me for not scrubbing out all of her good butter containers. Yup, that's my muther. Now you understand the intentional misspelling.
My husband is the best. He is extremely understanding and helps out around the house quite a bit. Being a military brat he grew up in an orderly, clean home. There was a time when my house keeping abilities (or lack there of) was a hindrance to our relationship- it still may be that way but he just doesn't say anything about it anymore. Did I mention he's the best?
Ok, enough of this just talking about the problem. I'm going to DO SOMETHING about it. Yep, I'm going to shave the dogs and cover everything with tarps!

Wednesday already?

Wow, this week is going fast. It usually does when you are in a drug induced blurr. I hate this time of year in the midwest. Everyone is sick with allergies and colds or the flu, argh.
I feel like I am so far behind in my household duties that I will never catch up. Luckily, housework has a tendency to wait patiently until I'm ready. Not so for dirty diapers... another doody calls. Ha ha, get it- duty/ doody. Ok I guess I'm not funny until the second cup of coffee.

Where's the syrup! 

Gryffin is 10 months old TODAY!

In the blink of an eye ten months has gone by. It seems just last week we had a newborn. Every 20th of the month I have taken his picture to track how much he has changed and boy, has he changed. I also remember back to that morning when I woke Mike and said those life changing, panic striking words "Honey, it's time". At 2 a.m. my husband woke up faster than he ever had in his life; I was impressed. After 12 hours and one minute of drug induced numbness, I met my son. He was the most beautiful yuck covered, bright red, screaming deamon I had ever met. (Still is) .
We celebrated this day with homemade pancakes. I don't think Gryffin enjoyed them quite as much as Mike and I though.

Didn't win...

Looks like my husband will have to go to work this week. We didn't win the Power Ball.
When he and I still worked together on our drive home we would go past this huge billboard for the lottery that gave the amount. We would often play 'What If". The outcome was usually predictable. We would take care of our families, setting everyone up in a new home with a new car and college accounts for all the neices and nephews. We would payoff my mother so he would never have to deal with her again. He would get a new Jeep Wrangler. I wouldn't get a new car, I happen to love my old Cherokee. We would build a log cabin in the middle of nowhere and declare ourselves an independant country. Eventhough we don't play the game much anymore, the outcome is still the same. Take care of those we love, have a little fun and live simply. Wait a minute! We do that already, YIPEE!!!!! I feel like I just won the lottery! I guess its all in how you look at things, huh?

Lets go splurge...

After his first sip of coffee this morning my husband threw me for a loop. He said, "Lets go out today and splurge, lets each buy ourselves something!". "Ok" I said, "I want to buy a maid". Not exactly what he was thinking. Then I said, "How about a toaster I want one of those". Again not what he had in mind. He then tells me that I need to buy myself some clothes. What?! I just bought a whole bunch of clothes a couple weeks ago. Sure they were a buck and item and came bagged in a garbage bag from a rummage sale but hey- they were all Eddie Bauer or Ralph Lauren!
So we packed up the little guy and headed out to the Pretentious Mall. No, that's not really its name but it might as well be. We walked around and looked and I actually found a store that carried clothes I liked. But no matter how much he wants me to splurge I cannot spend $159 on a skirt. It is against my genetic make up. You see, I come from a long line of poor people. Some were poor and it showed, others were good at being poor and it didn't show. I like to think I'm part of the latter group.
We came home empty handed except for a couple of frivolous purchases such as dark chocolate covered cherries and oatmeal stout from Trader Joes. Both of which are for my husband come to think of it. But we did enjoy a nice lunch out and with an almost 10 month old that is an accomplishment.
I did make a promise though. IF we win the Power Ball tonight or the Mega Millions Tuesday I will go back to that store and buy an entire wardrobe for Spring. Even if I faint at the bill or my head explodes thinking of how many weeks grocery money it was!

Burdens and bad memories...

I have released a major burden. Fourteen years ago I left college only one semester away from graduating. This was not by my choice, eventhough I hated that school. You see, when you go to a private college you run out of education when you run out of money. There is no Christian kindness for the underprivileged when the bottom line is at stake. I came back to the Midwest, I don't really call this area of the country home eventhough I grew up here. I found a job, then another and even a third just to pay for the student loans that were due. I struggled like this for a few years and was lucky enough to get my foot in the door at a large investment firm. The company treated me very well, promoted me several times and even found me a husband. Ok, they didn't exactly do that but it is where I met him. To make a long story just a bit longer... This week the last of my student loans have been paid in full. I can now truly release this, the debt and the memories associated with my unpleasant college experiences. Higher education taught me two things: 1. Don't judge a person by the scripture on their T-shirt and 2. Your life is exactly what YOU decide to make of it.

A Father's Revenge...

A long time ago there lived a very pretty little girl. Her father was (and is) her hero and he in turn adored her. This little girl, did I mention she was very pretty, had a secret weapon. A weapon her father found (almost) impossible to overcome. She only used it on very important occasions, or maybe more. The effectiveness of this secret weapon can still be felt today.
Many years later this very pretty little girl became a mom. One day she was looking after her son and scolded him for doing something naughty. She then realized the power of her own secret weapon. Her son looked up at his mother with his big brown eyes, a tiny tear perched on the edge of his cheek, slowly his chin dimpled and his bottom lip slid out. "I'm doomed!", she thought. You see, this look WAS her secret weapon. The secret weapon that could not be faught, the secret weapon that brought her what she wanted when she wanted, the secret weapon that she still occasionally used.
She now has to take up arms and fight against the very thing she coveted most. And boy, does her Dad think its funny!

Me and my shadow. 

First time for everything!

Let me start by introducing myself, ahem. My name is Robin, I am a 33 year old SAHM of a ten month old son. Almost a year ago I left the corporate world to take on the worlds most challenging job of Mom. Lets just say its not the romantic, funny life I had envisioned. But I love it none the less.
I am not one of those Martha Stewart types with a perfect house, perfect hair and perfect manners. I am one of those REAL people with a lived in house, lived in hair and midwest manners.
I hope all who read this will enjoy!